The use of environmental testing chambers is prevalent in the testing of electronic devices. The environmental testing chamber provides controlled environmental conditions by utilizing various mechanisms to cool and/or to heat the air inside of the environmental testing chamber. However, some types of electronic devices do not require the testing to be performed under the tightly controlled environmental conditions offered by the environmental testing chamber. Generally, DUTs (devices under test) are placed inside the environmental testing chamber while test equipment is positioned outside the environmental testing chamber. This causes problems in that the DUTs can't be manipulated during testing because they are within the environmental testing chamber and are not readily available for physical access. Also, the use of the environmental testing chamber is very expensive. Further, while the testing is going on, there is no way to add DUTs or remove DUTs because the entire lot typically needs to be tested at the same time inside the environmental testing chamber. Therefore, use of the expensive environmental testing chamber is not advantageous.
During the testing of electronic devices, heat is generated and emitted to the surrounding environment by the electronic devices. Managing this heat is a challenging task during the testing of the electronic devices. Numerous cooling mechanisms exist to dissipate the heat and to cool the electronic devices. There is a wide cost range for these cooling mechanisms. Each cooling mechanism has its advantages and deficiencies.
Heat warms and raises the temperature of the electronic device during testing. Cooling mechanisms are used to regulate the temperature of the electronic device at a desired temperature or desired temperature range during testing.
Factors that influence the effectiveness of a cooling mechanism include cooling capacity and cooling control of the cooling mechanism. Cooling capacity generally refers to an amount of heat the cooling mechanism is able to dissipate from a volume or an area within a time interval. Cooling control generally refers to aspects of manipulating the operation of the cooling mechanism to address current environmental conditions. As the manufacturing phase of electronic devices matures to volume production, the testing phase is pressured to adopt new techniques for cooling and for cooling control that are better suited for performing volume testing of electronic devices and that conform to testing specifications of designers and manufacturers.